- Department of Urban & Regional Planning,
FACULTY OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT,
University of Malaya,
50603 Kuala Lumpur,
MALAYSIA
- University of Malaya, Malaysia, Department of Geography, Department Memberadd
Research Interests:
Ecotourism conserves the natural environment and raises the community’s living standards. The socio-economic impacts, however, may vary due to different economic statuses among the local community groups. Hence this study examines the... more
Ecotourism conserves the natural environment and raises the community’s living standards. The socio-economic impacts, however, may vary due to different economic statuses among the local community groups. Hence this study examines the socio-economic impacts of ecotourism in Taman Negara Pahang on the locals and indigenous people with different incomes, education, and occupations. This qualitative research employed semi-structured interviews to understand better the socioeconomic benefits and challenges of tourism development in the national park. It was found that the locals were highly dependent on tourism economic activities, and their living standards improved. Nevertheless, most indigenous people still lived in poverty because they were incompetent with limited communication skills and hospitality knowledge. Besides, tourism seasonality has caused irregular business revenue, low return on investment, and underutilisation of facilities in the off-peak season. Conversely, the tour...
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The Philippine coastal marine ecosystem provides many Ecosystem Services (ES) and is a region where coastal communities are closely dependent on the sea. Previous ES studies focus mainly on biophysical and economic assessments with... more
The Philippine coastal marine ecosystem provides many Ecosystem Services (ES) and is a region where coastal communities are closely dependent on the sea. Previous ES studies focus mainly on biophysical and economic assessments with limited studies about Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), particularly in the Philippines. Here, we present the CES provided by Taytay Bay, Palawan through local knowledge. Using semi-structured interviews together with participatory mapping activities we quantified marine-related values and threats across Taytay Bay. Spatial mapping of CES, including sense of place, heritage, identity, spiritual, inspiration, knowledge, education, aesthetics, recreation, and intergenerational showed benefits occurring in particular spatial patterns, suggesting that services are provided and contribute to human wellbeing at a community level. Respondents highly valued benefits to their livelihoods but also identified many distinct values beyond income generation, including sense of place, spiritual, aesthetics, and recreational values. The connection between some cultural services e.g., source of ecological knowledge, and provisioning services e.g., seafood, was also recognized. Destructive fishing practices, agrochemicals from pearl and seaweed farms, and privatization of islands were perceived to introduce the highest threats. This has management implications since threats to CES also threaten other ES. The co-occurrence of CES values with provisioning values suggests a holistic approach to ecosystem valuation is needed. The loss of one ES is likely to represent a loss in multiple other services and protecting key service-providing habitats leads to multiple benefits. The study results demonstrate the importance of integrating cultural and non-monetary environmental values into ecosystem valuation and practical on-the-ground policies.
Research Interests: Geography, Coastal Management, Ecosystem Services, Livelihood, Participatory Mapping, and 12 moreEnvironmental Sciences, Environmental Resource Management, Fishing, Environmental science and policy, RECREATION, Ecosystem, Local Knowledge, Provisioning, Ecosystem Service Valuation, Cultural ecosystem services, Marine ecosystem, and Bay
Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed... more
Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed that monetary valuation should inform local and national decision makers to ensure sustainable management of mangrove resources. For ecosystem service valuation to be of use to decision makers, best practices should be adhered to such as having straightforward policy questions and strong stakeholder engagement from the onset of valuation studies, suitable choice of valuation methodologies, and the ability to effectively demonstrate causal links between drivers of ecosystem health, change, and resource users. This study, focusing on the Malaysian case study, assessed the effectiveness and challenges of local ecosystem service valuation studies in informing mangrove management decisions against a set of global best practices. A systematic review approac...
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Mangroves continue to be extensively replaced for alternative land uses despite global recognition of their value for ecosystem services. Limited effort has been directed into understanding how changes in mangrove ecosystems affect human... more
Mangroves continue to be extensively replaced for alternative land uses despite global recognition of their value for ecosystem services. Limited effort has been directed into understanding how changes in mangrove ecosystems affect human well-being, especially in Asia. Using the inhabited Klang Islands, Selangor, Malaysia as a case study, this paper explores the relationships between mangrove ecosystem services and human well-being by adapting and modifying three existing conceptual frameworks. Semi-structured interviews with island residents were conducted to explore mangroves' contribution to human well-being. Analysis revealed that respondents recognised examples of regulating, cultural, and provisioning ecosystem services resulted from their interaction with mangroves. While all three ecosystem services contributed to both basic human needs and subjective well-being, provisioning and cultural services were reported to also contribute to economic needs and regulating services, more strongly to environmental needs. These findings contribute to more inclusive decision-making processes concerning development and conservation planning in the fast-urbanised Klang which would affect the overall well-being of the communities in general, largely the Malay, Chinese and Mah Meri communities, and the fishers specifically.
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International research and development projects (or grand challenge projects) consist of multicultural, multi-country, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder initiatives aimed at poverty reduction. They are usually conceived as... more
International research and development projects (or grand challenge projects) consist of multicultural, multi-country, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder initiatives aimed at poverty reduction. They are usually conceived as partnerships between actors in the global north–south. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major unexpected disruption to ongoing projects and challenged their already complex management. The aim of this paper is to present evidence on how international development projects were impacted by COVID-19 with a particular focus on the relationship between research institutions in the north and south. We conducted a mixed-methods research study, combining a reflective exercise with the co-author team and a survey with principal investigators, project managers, and capacity development leads drawn from 31 Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) projects funded through the UK government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) and focused on social–ecological system research. T...
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China’s internal migrants suffer from marginalised housing conditions, poor neighbourhood environments and residential segregation, which may have significant implications on health and well-being. Echoing recent calls for... more
China’s internal migrants suffer from marginalised housing conditions, poor neighbourhood environments and residential segregation, which may have significant implications on health and well-being. Echoing recent calls for interdisciplinary research on migrant health and well-being, this study examines the associations and mechanisms of the impact of the residential environment on the health and well-being of Chinese migrants. We found that most of the relevant studies supported the “healthy migration effect”, but the phenomenon was only applicable to migrants’ self-reported physical health rather than mental health. The subjective well-being of migrants is lower than that of urban migrants. There is a debate between the effectiveness of residential environmental improvements and the ineffectiveness of residential environmental improvements in terms of the impact of the neighbourhood environment on migrants’ health and well-being. Housing conditions and the neighbourhood’s physical ...
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The Philippine coastal marine ecosystem provides many Ecosystem Services (ES) and is a region where coastal communities are closely dependent on the sea. Previous ES studies focus mainly on biophysical and economic assessments with... more
The Philippine coastal marine ecosystem provides many Ecosystem Services (ES) and is a region where coastal communities are closely dependent on the sea. Previous ES studies focus mainly on biophysical and economic assessments with limited studies about Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), particularly in the Philippines. Here, we present the CES provided by Taytay Bay, Palawan through local knowledge. Using semi-structured interviews together with participatory mapping activities we quantified marine-related values and threats across Taytay Bay. Spatial mapping of CES, including sense of place, heritage, identity, spiritual, inspiration, knowledge, education, aesthetics, recreation, and intergenerational showed benefits occurring in particular spatial patterns, suggesting that services are provided and contribute to human wellbeing at a community level. Respondents highly valued benefits to their livelihoods but also identified many distinct values beyond income generation, including sense of place, spiritual, aesthetics, and recreational values. The connection between some cultural services e.g., source of ecological knowledge, and provisioning services e.g., seafood, was also recognized. Destructive fishing practices, agrochemicals from pearl and seaweed farms, and privatization of islands were perceived to introduce the highest threats. This has management implications since threats to CES also threaten other ES. The co-occurrence of CES values with provisioning values suggests a holistic approach to ecosystem valuation is needed. The loss of one ES is likely to represent a loss in multiple other services and protecting key service-providing habitats leads to multiple benefits. The study results demonstrate the importance of integrating cultural and non-monetary environmental values into ecosystem valuation and practical on-the-ground policies.
Research Interests:
Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed... more
Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed that monetary valuation should inform local and national decision makers to ensure sustainable management of mangrove resources. For ecosystem service valuation to be of use to decision makers, best practices should be adhered to such as having straightforward policy questions and strong stakeholder engagement from the onset of valuation studies, suitable choice of valuation methodologies, and the ability to effectively demonstrate causal links between drivers of ecosystem health, change, and resource users. This study, focusing on the Malaysian case study, assessed the effectiveness and challenges of local ecosystem service valuation studies in informing mangrove management decisions against a set of global best practices. A systematic review approach was undertaken to identify relevant Malaysian mangrove ecosystem service valuation studies. Of 184 studies identified, only 17 provided monetary values for mangrove ecosystem services. These studies valued nine different mangrove ecosystem services, with the cultural ecosystem services of tourism being the most frequently valued. Most of the valuation studies were designed to raise awareness of the value of ecosystems (64.7%). Other intended uses included determining appropriate charging rates for mangrove uses (17.6%), comparing the costs and benefits of different environmental uses (11.8%), and providing a justification and support for certain decision making (5.9%). Overall, mangrove valuation studies in Malaysia were characterized by weak multi-stakeholder engagement, non-standardized valuation units across the whole country, limited dissemination of the valuation outcome, and cursory references to the potential use of mangrove ecosystem services. Most of the studies did not exert apparent influence on mangrove management. Future valuation studies in Malaysia and the Southeast Asian region should aim to build more robust engagement between valuation practitioners and key stakeholder groups, especially decision makers, at all stages of the study process and incorporate a clear dissemination strategy for sharing results.
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Diverse and inclusive marine research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century, as envisioned by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Despite increasing efforts to diversify... more
Diverse and inclusive marine research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century, as envisioned by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Despite increasing efforts to diversify ocean science, women continue to face barriers at various stages of their career, which inhibits their progression to leadership within academic institutions. In this perspective, we draw on the collective experiences of thirty-four global women leaders, bolstered by a narrative review, to identify practical strategies and actions that will help empower early career women researchers to become the leaders of tomorrow. We propose five strategies: (i) create a more inclusive culture, (ii) ensure early and equitable career development opportunities for women ECRs, (iii) ensure equitable access to funding for women ECRs, (iv) offer mentoring opportunities and, (v) create flexible, family-friendly environments. Transformational, meaningful, and lasting chan...
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The increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been affected the Earth’s climate and contributed to the global warming issues which are the cooperation and responsibility of many stakeholders such as local communities play an... more
The increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been affected the Earth’s climate and contributed to the global warming issues which are the cooperation and responsibility of many stakeholders such as local communities play an important role to address the issue. The study aims to examine the local community awareness against greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Simpang Empat Village, Muallim Perak has been chosen as a study area. The objectives of the study are to identify the relationship between the general knowledge of greenhouse gases with the educations level among the local community regarding the awareness of greenhouse gases in Simpang Empat Village Maullim, Perak. The result shows that the greenhouse gas awareness has been influenced by their own experiences and the rise of local heat temperature where they live in. The study also found the awareness of the local community influenced by the level of respondent’s education particularly on disease outbreak and source ...
Additional file 2: ROSES checklist.
Investment drives the economic growth of a country because it is a component of aggregate demand and more importantly it influences the productive capacity of the economy. This article investigates local communities' willingness... more
Investment drives the economic growth of a country because it is a component of aggregate demand and more importantly it influences the productive capacity of the economy. This article investigates local communities' willingness to invest in tourism industry, focusing specifically on tourism development. A quantitative approach was adopted and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 382 respondents from the six districts of Langkawi. Empirical results indicate that knowledge, expectation of benefit, motivation and attitude effects community willingness to invest and savings has the highest effect on investment. In addition, local communities play significant roles in tourism development. Tourism has contributed to the country's economic growth through tourist arrivals with substantial receipts, as such, tourism development requires considerable investment. This study shows that tourism development is related to local community willingness to invest in tourism industry. Moreover, this study provides some suggestions for local authorities in terms of increasing community investment.
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ABSTRACT The worldwide evolution of park management has revealed the dual roles of parks in meeting nature conservation and social objectives. Sustainable tourism is able to support these roles by providing financial support to nature... more
ABSTRACT The worldwide evolution of park management has revealed the dual roles of parks in meeting nature conservation and social objectives. Sustainable tourism is able to support these roles by providing financial support to nature conservation, benefiting local communities through providing employment opportunities and capacity building as well as by maintaining visitor satisfaction. Kinabalu Park in Malaysia is a World Natural Heritage Site and well known for its floral diversity and mountainous landscape. Tourism generates substantial financial income to the park, which is essential to support nature conservation and also provides job opportunities to the local communities. Nevertheless, the steady inflow of park visitors raises concern over sustainability of tourism in Kinabalu Park. A privatization program was introduced in 1998 to manage the tourism facilities so that the park authority (Sabah Parks) can focus on the nature conservation and tourism impact management. No study is known to exist that evaluates the park management in Kinabalu Park after privatization. Hence, this research evaluates the park management against the socio-economic principles of sustainable tourism. Specifically, it aims to determine how the privatization program assists the park authority in 1) enhancing conservation activities by channeling the tourism revenue into research activities, training programs and tourism impact management, 2) benefiting the local communities through job opportunities and capacity building, and 3) improving visitor satisfaction. A case study approach is adopted incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research methods. These include questionnaire survey, semi-structured and unstructured interviews and observations. The findings reveal that the tourism revenue generated in the park does not significantly contribute to nature conservation, but rather supports tourism development such as upgrading and creating new tourism-related facilities and activities. No monitoring system exists for evaluating the human impact on flora and fauna despite the existence of tourism impact management and a large staff. Local communities have benefited through creation of jobs for mountain guides and porters, at Sabah Parks, the private operator (SSL), and KOKTAS (Multipurpose Cooperative of Sabah Parks Staff). However, the living standard of porters and the operation of KOKTAS have been negatively affected by the privatization program. The local staff of SSL expressed worries about job insecurity and income instability. In terms of visitor satisfaction, the overall rating on tourism facilities in the park is high. However, the guiding services provided by the mountain and nature guides need to be improved. This indicates not only the rising demand for knowledge-based experience by the visitors is not well understood by Sabah Parks, but also the training provided to mountain and nature guides is unable to meet the visitors’ expectations. The results of this study show that the privatization program has not been able to shift the focus of Sabah Parks to nature conservation, and that the private sector is unable to fulfil all objectives of sustainable tourism. The financial budget analysis and visitor satisfaction survey reveal that Sabah Parks has not showed strong support to nature conservation, i.e., staff training and human impacts monitoring, and to enhance the visitors’ educational experience.
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Diverse and inclusive marine research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century, as envisioned by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Despite increasing efforts to diversify... more
Diverse and inclusive marine research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century, as envisioned by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Despite increasing efforts to diversify ocean science, women continue to face barriers at various stages of their career, which inhibits their progression to leadership within academic institutions. In this perspective, we draw on the collective experiences of thirty-four global women leaders, bolstered by a narrative review, to identify practical strategies and actions that will help empower early career women researchers to become the leaders of tomorrow. We propose five strategies: (i) create a more inclusive culture, (ii) ensure early and equitable career development opportunities for women ECRs, (iii) ensure equitable access to funding for women ECRs, (iv) offer mentoring opportunities and, (v) create flexible, family-friendly environments. Transformational, meaningful, and lasting change will only be achieved through commitment and collaborative action across various scales and by multiple stakeholders.
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Transport can significantly contribute to independent and healthy ageing, but in Pakistan—as in various other countries across the globe—many older adults are dependent on others. Age-sensitive transport environments are crucial for... more
Transport can significantly contribute to independent and healthy ageing, but in Pakistan—as in various other countries across the globe—many older adults are dependent on others. Age-sensitive transport environments are crucial for generating positive experiences among older adults. Notably, psychosocial experiences significantly impact public transport use. Thus, a thorough understanding of these psychological influences on public transport accessibility can encourage walkability and independent mobility. In the present research, we combine different data into a mixed-method study to investigate the psychosocial barriers to public transport use by older adults for daily travel in Lahore, Pakistan. The data include a questionnaire survey (319 older adults), semi-structured interviews (11 older adults), structured interviews with four experts and an analysis of relevant national-, provincial-, and district-level strategies and transport plans. The findings show how poorly perceived social norms, negative emotional responses, and perceived difficulty are significant barriers to using public transport services among older adults. Moreover, the existing transport plans and documents do not favour and cater to such psychosocial issues. Several strategic interventions that could promote walkability and public transport use are suggested. It includes activating social norms, raising awareness and information, providing social support, improving walking infrastructure and public transport services, pricing mechanisms, and offering specialised services. These initiatives, however, necessitate coordination among government authorities at the national, provincial, and district levels.
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Recently, rapid development of the Klang Valley has tended to squeeze settlement developments into fragile areas, particularly flood plains, due to the limited supply of suitable non-hazardous land. Developments on these flood plains will... more
Recently, rapid development of the Klang Valley has tended to squeeze settlement developments into fragile areas, particularly flood plains, due to the limited supply of suitable non-hazardous land. Developments on these flood plains will be exposed to the risk of flooding. The Klang Valley is well known for its serious problems with flash floods: they generally occur four to five times a year and sometimes more often. Two to three hours of heavy rain is enough to cause the river in the Klang Valley to reach its peak discharge. Flash floods have led to intangible psychological impacts on the effected residents. This research will discuss the psychological impacts of flash flooding in two residential areas with different levels of living community and different housing constructions. The first is the properly planned settlement of TTDI Jaya and the second is the squatter settlement of Kampung Haji Abdullah Hukom. The information discussed here is drawn from interviews with the reside...
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Tongkonan is a style of vernacular architecture famous in Toraja, a mountainous region in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Tongkonan traditional house is a symbol of the Toraja people, representing the ancestors and the entire cosmos of life –... more
Tongkonan is a style of vernacular architecture famous in Toraja, a mountainous region in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Tongkonan traditional house is a symbol of the Toraja people, representing the ancestors and the entire cosmos of life – from birth to death. The houses and their arrangement within a settlement form a social and cultural space that gathers the extended family of the Tongkonan. This article explores the landscape of Tongkonan architecture and coffee cultivation, showing how Tongkonan is essential to Toraja's cultural landscape and a foundation of Toraja coffee culture. The study draws together literature reviews, interviews, photographic and video observation, as well as photo-elicitation interviews. The research reveals that although the existence of Tongkonan architecture precedes the introduction of coffee cultivation, the Tongkonan's geographical closeness to the coffee farms, the historic economic importance of coffee, and the social and cultural relevance of Tongkonan creates a cultural landscape entangling Tongkonan settlements and forests, coffee farms and coffee culture activities. Tongkonan and coffee form Toraja's unique cultural landscape. The space of the Tongkonan, which includes coffee community activities, serves as a basis of Toraja coffee culture.
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In nature-based tourism destination, sustainable tourism is a more responsible form of tourism seeks to minimize the undesirable impacts of tourism development in ecological sensitive areas apart from contributing to nature conservation.... more
In nature-based tourism destination, sustainable tourism is a more responsible form of tourism seeks to minimize the undesirable impacts of tourism development in ecological sensitive areas apart from contributing to nature conservation. While these objectives must be achieved, it is also important to ensure a high level of tourist satisfaction which is central to the survival of tourism business. In protected areas, park management is traditionally a responsibility of public sector. While public sector is said to be in a better position in securing the interest of public, tourism business is not their forte but private sector due to the heavy bureaucratic nature of the former and the profit-driven nature of the latter. Kinabalu Park is a famous nature-based tourism destination in Malaysia for its flora diversity and splendid mountainous landscape. By borrowing the case of Kinabalu Park, this paper aims to reveal some arising issues in park management resulted from the involvement o...
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Research Interests: Engineering and Cemetries
Recycling and source separation (R&SS) are believed to have been the first attempt to minimise waste. This research adopted mixed methods that followed sequential quantitative then qualitative data collection, combining questionnaire... more
Recycling and source separation (R&SS) are believed to have been the first attempt to minimise waste. This research adopted mixed methods that followed sequential quantitative then qualitative data collection, combining questionnaire surveys from 100 households, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observations to study the human dimension of waste generation and management. Scoring Assessment (with modified Bloom’s Cut Off point) indicated that households had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes yet poor behaviour, and these three components indicated no linear associations, tested using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. However, age group, marital status, educational level and living duration showed statistical significance with households’ participation in source separation through Chi-Square Test. Meanwhile, observation data showed that waste management mechanisms and environment had inefficiently supported households’ participation in R&SS practices (external fac...
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Successful buy-in and support for management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) should acknowledge the existing cultural ecosystem services and their connections to the well-being of local communities to gain positive perceptions. It is... more
Successful buy-in and support for management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) should acknowledge the existing cultural ecosystem services and their connections to the well-being of local communities to gain positive perceptions. It is necessary to engage local stakeholders, especially among the youths, to explore governance complexities of MPAs and how to better understand cultural ecosystem services. Thus, this qualitative study investigated the perceptions of youths on cultural ecosystem services using a visual method, namely photovoice, as part of the participatory research in a newly established MPA of Tun Mustapha Park, Sabah. Three themes were identified in the process, namely social, economic, and environment. The engagement demonstrated the value of using the participatory approach, which yielded important insights of youths as a part of the community, which included the need for additional livelihood means post-establishment of MPA and issues of degradation of the marine environment. This paper contributed to the MPA governance literature specifically on the empirical youth perception which has been underrepresented as well as the employment of visual participatory methods to encourage better expression among the youths towards their living environment.
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Environmental governance systems are expanding in size and complexity as they become more integrated and ecosystem-based. In doing so, governance transitions often involve more actors and knowingly or unknowingly alter the autonomy of... more
Environmental governance systems are expanding in size and complexity as they become more integrated and ecosystem-based. In doing so, governance transitions often involve more actors and knowingly or unknowingly alter the autonomy of actors to make decisions and thereby the ability of the governance system to self-organise. In short, we argue that these governance systems are becoming increasingly polycentric, moving towards an institutional structure that is reported to confer a number of benefits to social-ecological systems. This article adds to a growing body of evidence on transitions towards polycentric environmental governance in practice. It adds nuance to the normative and apolitical portrayals of governance transitions, in general, and polycentric governance transitions in particular. We analyse the relations amongst actors and historical development of four large-scale marine governance systems in Southeast Asia to understand how context, particularly power, shapes the emergence and evolution of various degrees of polycentric marine governance in practice. Our data indicate that transitions towards polycentricity do confer diversity and autonomy of decision-making centres, which can enable more innovation or flexibility to respond to changing circumstances. However, polycentric innovation does not always underpin sustainability and equity. Coordination mechanisms are critical for channelling the power dynamics that emerge among polycentric actors towards sustainability. Yet, in these emergent, ad hoc polycentric transitions such mechanisms remained nascent, ineffective or inactive. In low- and middle-income contexts the transaction costs involved in co-ordinating a semi-autonomous polycentric system are considerably more difficult to overcome and need investment in resources and accountability mechanisms.
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Tongkonan is a style of vernacular architecture famous in Toraja, a mountainous region in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Tongkonan traditional house is a symbol of the Toraja people, representing the ancestors and the entire cosmos of life –... more
Tongkonan is a style of vernacular architecture famous in Toraja, a mountainous region in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Tongkonan traditional house is a symbol of the Toraja people, representing the ancestors and the entire cosmos of life – from birth to death. The houses and their arrangement within a settlement form a social and cultural space that gathers the extended family of the Tongkonan. This article explores the landscape of Tongkonan architecture and coffee cultivation, showing how Tongkonan is essential to Toraja's cultural landscape and a foundation of Toraja coffee culture. The study draws together literature reviews, interviews, photographic and video observation, as well as photo-elicitation interviews. The research reveals that although the existence of Tongkonan architecture precedes the introduction of coffee cultivation, the Tongkonan's geographical closeness to the coffee farms, the historic economic importance of coffee, and the social and cultural relevance of Tongkonan creates a cultural landscape entangling Tongkonan settlements and forests, coffee farms and coffee culture activities. Tongkonan and coffee form Toraja's unique cultural landscape. The space of the Tongkonan, which includes coffee community activities, serves as a basis of Toraja coffee culture.
Research Interests:
Successful buy-in and support for management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) should acknowledge the existing cultural ecosystem services and their connections to the well-being of local communities to gain positive perceptions. It is... more
Successful buy-in and support for management of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) should acknowledge the existing cultural ecosystem services and their connections to the well-being of local communities to gain positive perceptions. It is necessary to engage local stakeholders, especially among the youths, to explore governance complexities of MPAs and how to better understand cultural ecosystem services. Thus, this qualitative study investigated the perceptions of youths on cultural ecosystem services using a visual method, namely photovoice, as part of the participatory research in a newly established MPA of Tun Mustapha Park, Sabah. Three themes were identified in the process, namely social, economic, and environment. The engagement demonstrated the value of using the participatory approach, which yielded important insights of youths as a part of the community, which included the need for additional livelihood means post-establishment of MPA and issues of degradation of the marine environment. This paper contributed to the MPA governance literature specifically on the empirical youth perception which has been underrepresented as well as the employment of visual participatory methods to encourage better expression among the youths towards their living environment.
Research Interests:
Interdisciplinary research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century. However, women leaders have been underrepresented in interdisciplinary marine research, and there is little guidance on how to... more
Interdisciplinary research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century. However, women leaders have been underrepresented in interdisciplinary marine research, and there is little guidance on how to achieve the conditions that will lead to an increased proportion of women scientists in positions of leadership. Here, we conduct in-depth qualitative research to explore the main barriers and enablers to women’s leadership in an academic interdisciplinary marine research context. We found that interdisciplinarity can present unique and additional barriers to women leaders (e.g., complexity and lack of value attributed to interdisciplinary research) and are exacerbated by existing gender-specific issues that women experience (e.g., isolation and underrepresentation and stereotyping). Together these barriers overlap forming the “glass obstacle course”—which is particularly challenging for women in minoritized groups. Here, we provide a list of concrete, ambitious, and actionable enablers that can promote and support women’s leadership in academic interdisciplinary marine research.
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Recycling and source separation (R&SS) are believed to have been the first attempt to minimise waste. This research adopted mixed methods that followed sequential quantitative then qualitative data collection, combining questionnaire... more
Recycling and source separation (R&SS) are believed to have been the first attempt to minimise waste. This research adopted mixed methods that followed sequential quantitative then qualitative data collection, combining questionnaire surveys from 100 households, semi-structured
interviews, and participatory observations to study the human dimension of waste generation and management. Scoring Assessment (with modified Bloom’s Cut Off point) indicated that households had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes yet poor behaviour, and these three components indicated no linear associations, tested using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. However, age group, marital status, educational level and living duration showed statistical significance with households’
participation in source separation through Chi-Square Test. Meanwhile, observation data showed that waste management mechanisms and environment had inefficiently supported households’ participation in R&SS practices (external factors: poor accessibility to services, lack of tangible
incentives, and absence of restriction in consumption). Elicited data indicated that a satisfactory level of intentions, knowledge, and willingness, together with good habit and quality persuasion (internal
factors), were required to drive good behaviour. Subsequently, a series of recommendations were formulated to promote gradual yet solid transformation of the waste management system, tapping on existing initiatives by considering additional parameters upon the gap in households’ knowledge, attitude, and behaviour.
interviews, and participatory observations to study the human dimension of waste generation and management. Scoring Assessment (with modified Bloom’s Cut Off point) indicated that households had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes yet poor behaviour, and these three components indicated no linear associations, tested using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. However, age group, marital status, educational level and living duration showed statistical significance with households’
participation in source separation through Chi-Square Test. Meanwhile, observation data showed that waste management mechanisms and environment had inefficiently supported households’ participation in R&SS practices (external factors: poor accessibility to services, lack of tangible
incentives, and absence of restriction in consumption). Elicited data indicated that a satisfactory level of intentions, knowledge, and willingness, together with good habit and quality persuasion (internal
factors), were required to drive good behaviour. Subsequently, a series of recommendations were formulated to promote gradual yet solid transformation of the waste management system, tapping on existing initiatives by considering additional parameters upon the gap in households’ knowledge, attitude, and behaviour.
Research Interests:
Mangroves continue to be extensively replaced for alternative land uses despite global recognition of their value for ecosystem services. Limited effort has been directed into understanding how changes in mangrove ecosystems affect human... more
Mangroves continue to be extensively replaced for alternative land uses despite global recognition of their value for ecosystem services. Limited effort has been directed into understanding how changes in mangrove ecosystems affect human well-being, especially in Asia. Using the inhabited Klang Islands, Selangor, Malaysia as a case study, this paper explores the relationships between mangrove ecosystem services and human well-being by adapting and modifying three existing conceptual frameworks. Semi-structured interviews with island residents were conducted to explore mangroves' contribution to human well-being. Analysis revealed that respondents recognised examples of regulating, cultural, and provisioning ecosystem services resulted from their interaction with mangroves. While all three ecosystem services contributed to both basic human needs and subjective well-being, provisioning and cultural services were reported to also contribute to economic needs and regulating services, more strongly to environmental needs. These findings contribute to more inclusive decision-making processes concerning development and conservation planning in the fast-urbanised Klang which would affect the overall well-being of the communities in general, largely the Malay, Chinese and Mah Meri communities, and the fishers specifically.
Research Interests:
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Additional file 4: JBI critical appraisal checklist.
Additional file 5: Data extraction sheet.
Environmental governance systems are expanding in size and complexity as they become more integrated and ecosystem-based. In doing so, governance transitions often involve more actors and knowingly or unknowingly alter the autonomy of... more
Environmental governance systems are expanding in size and complexity as they become more integrated and ecosystem-based. In doing so, governance transitions often involve more actors and knowingly or unknowingly alter the autonomy of actors to make decisions, and thereby the ability of the governance system to self-organise. In other words, these governance systems are becoming increasingly polycentric, moving towards an institutional structure that is reported to confer a number of benefits to social-ecological systems. This article adds to a growing body of evidence on polycentric environmental governance in practice. It adds nuance to the normative and apolitical portrayals of governance transitions in general, and transitions towards more polycentric forms of governance in particular. We analyse the relations amongst actors and historical development of four large-scale marine governance systems in Southeast Asia to understand how context, particularly power, shapes the emergence and evolution of polycentric marine governance in practice. Our data indicate that transitions towards increased polycentricity do increase diversity and autonomy of decision-making centres, which can enable more innovation or flexibility to respond to changing circumstances. However, these innovations do not always underpin sustainability and equity. Coordination mechanisms are critical for channelling the power dynamics that emerge among diverse actors towards sustainability. Yet, in these emergent, ad hoc polycentric governance arrangements such mechanisms remained nascent, ineffective, or inactive. The transaction costs involved in co-ordinating a semi-autonomous polycentric system are seemingly difficult to overcome in low- to middle-income contexts and need investment in resources and accountability mechanisms.
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This item is part of: Boarin, P., Haarhoff, E., Manfredini, M., Mohammadzadeh, M., Premier, A., (2021). Rethinking Sustainable Pacific Rim Territories. Proceedings of the 2020 APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub PhD Symposium,... more
This item is part of: Boarin, P., Haarhoff, E., Manfredini, M., Mohammadzadeh, M., Premier, A., (2021). Rethinking Sustainable Pacific Rim Territories. Proceedings of the 2020 APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub PhD Symposium, Future Cities Research Hub, School of Architecture and Planning of the University of Auckland. ISBN: 978-0-473-53616-9<br>ABSTRACT The research found that the coffee value chain operates in a long linear path and has not adopted the local wisdom point of view. The real actors in the primary stage are community-based stakeholders. To employ the circular economy framework as the latest sustainable approach to the value chain, then the gap of the social value of the societal structure and the culture in a circular economy that mainly unexplored must be developed. Vernacular architecture represents the social and cultural value. This value has to be understood, translated, and employed in the framework. This research aims to create a framework for the...
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This volume provides an enlightening and pragmatic approach to preserving biological diversity by gathering a wide range of peer-reviewed scientific content from biodiversity researchers and conservators from around the world. It brings... more
This volume provides an enlightening and pragmatic approach to preserving biological diversity by gathering a wide range of peer-reviewed scientific content from biodiversity researchers and conservators from around the world. It brings comprehensive knowledge and information on the present status of conservation of biological diversity including floral, faunal, and microbial diversity. A detailed account of recent trends in conservation and applications under changing climate conditions, focusing mainly on agriculturally and industrially important microbes and their sustainable utilization, is presented as well.
Over the past five decades, extensive research work has been done on many aspects of biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization of biological resources. This book examines this crucial issue. Chapters discuss biodiversity concepts, benefits, and values for economic and sustainable development; explores applications and strategies for biodiversity preservation; and considers the role of biodiversity conservation in public awareness services and cultural significance. The volume also examines the process of evolution and the future of biodiversity in conjunction with climate change factors, with special reference to infectious diseases.
Over the past five decades, extensive research work has been done on many aspects of biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization of biological resources. This book examines this crucial issue. Chapters discuss biodiversity concepts, benefits, and values for economic and sustainable development; explores applications and strategies for biodiversity preservation; and considers the role of biodiversity conservation in public awareness services and cultural significance. The volume also examines the process of evolution and the future of biodiversity in conjunction with climate change factors, with special reference to infectious diseases.
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Ocean(s) and Human Health is a metadiscipline that seeks to integrate the marine and environmental sciences with public health and the biomedical sciences in research and training, with the objective of identifying and addressing the... more
Ocean(s) and Human Health is a metadiscipline that seeks to integrate the marine and environmental sciences with public health and the biomedical sciences in research and training, with the objective of identifying and addressing the complex and inextricable linkages (both the risks and the benefits) between the health of the Ocean and humans (Walsh et al. 2008; Bowen et al. 2014; Depledge et al. 2019; Fleming et al. 2019; Short et al. 2021). The underlying principles of this metadiscipline are that: (1) the health of humans is dependent on a “healthy ocean”; (2) human actions can directly and indirectly affect Ocean health; and (3) interdisciplinary collaborative research and training are essential to create a future sustainable relationship between the Ocean(s) and human health. Other cross-cutting themes include the importance of equity and equality in...